MB Mission and C2C Merger Update

UPDATE:

June 28th
Further updates have been made available through a video question and answer with MB Mission’s Randy Friesen and C2C Network’s Gord Fleming. Click here for details.

May 30th
The CCMBC Executive Board is excited about the proposed C2C and MB Mission merger. Click here for an update on our discernment process as well as answers to some frequently asked questions. We hope this Q/A will assist the ongoing discussion and clarifications in the months ahead through to November.

In addition, we invite you to participate in a conference call on June 16 at 9:30am Pacific Time. More details are included in the document linked above and are posted online.

CCMBC Executive Board

As the CCMBC Executive Board, we are excited about the proposed C2C and MB Mission merger and felt it was important to provide an update on the discernment process.

In January 2017, the Executive Board unanimously passed a motion “that MB Mission assume responsibility for the mission and ministry of C2C network” that was also unanimously approved by the MB Mission Board on February 28, 2017. We will bring this motion to a vote by the delegates on November 1, 2017, at a Special General Meeting prior to CCMBC’s Equip Study Conference 2017. This will allow the members of our Canadian MB conference to make the final decision.

Over the past two years, numerous boards, convention delegates and staff have discerned and contributed to the emerging consensus that one mission – local, national and global – is God’s best for us as we seek to live on mission with Jesus and the Great Commission. We believe this vision is best reached through MB Mission and C2C coming together in relationships with churches and structures that are local, provincial/district, national and global.

“While we are committed to this vision, we also hold an open hand, inviting our Canadian MB family to further discern with us how we should proceed,” said Bruce Enns CCMBC moderator. “During productive dialogue at our provincial conventions and throughout the broader MB community, people have raised lots of great questions.”

With input from the C2C Task Force, we are clarifying answers to those questions particularly in areas such as governance, finances and culture. Eventually those clarifications would lead to updated memoranda of understanding between MB Mission and the MB conferences in Canada and the U.S. to reflect the new authority, limitations to authority, responsibilities and expectations for MB Mission’s expanded mandate.

In the coming months, we will continue our dialogue with the MB community. Following discussions at our Executive Board meetings, which end May 13, 2017, we will distribute a Q/A that addresses key questions about the merger. We hope to make that document available prior to the end of May 2017.

In late spring and early fall 2017, we plan to hold conference calls to provide updates on the MB Mission and C2C merger process as well as give opportunities to ask further questions. We will send an invitation for the moderated conference calls in the coming weeks when the dates are finalized. The format of these calls would be similar to the conference call we held on December 13, 2016.

Thank you for your continued interest, participation and support of our conference as we pursue our mission to multiply Christ-centred churches to see Canada transformed by the good news of the Jesus Christ. We welcome your prayers as we enter into our meetings in the days ahead.

10 comments

Rudy HiebertMay 9, 2017 - 4:52 pm

Examples of some of the questions on the “Questions & Answers re MB & C2C Merger” document are:
A. Governance:
A1. Who will make up the board?
A2. To whom, and how, will this organization be accountable?
A3. What might the organizational chart look like for the merged entity?
A4. What is the nature of the relationship between this entity and the national conference, Provincial conferences and local churches?

Hi Rudy, thank you for your comment. The Executive Board is meeting this week to review the Q&A document and they intend to make it available by the end of May. If you would like to submit questions for them to consider and/or include in the document, please email mbboard@mbchurches.ca.

To provide adequate understanding of this proposed merger, it is necessary to provide a complete history of both these organizations. That should be in the form of annual statements showing the churches planted, the financial outlays and the current status of that plant. Similarly, a complete history of M B Mission , its mission locations and the financial support it has received. This information should be available on line. It is only with such information that the ‘brethren’ could interpret the consequence of such a merger as well as the effect on each of the organizations if the merger is approved

And our ever able centre for MB Studies has a lot of resources — if you can’t find what you’re looking for online, you can give them a call. They’ve been immensely helpful in my own personal research over the years –http://cmbs.mennonitebrethren.ca

Your reply totally disregards my request for current and recent financial disclosure of C2C and MB Missions. I am well aware of MBMissions theology and history, but, you have no references on C2C’s recent history which I requested. Mergers or partnerships have a poor history legally, that is why this information is so foundational. Instead of the word ‘excited’, I would suggest the proposal causes ‘apprehension’. Particularly in view of the recent financial history in administration of the MB Conference.

Makes sense. I have some concerns as well, and simply wanted to share what I did come across when I looked online for myself. Sorry I wasn’t able to be more helpful.

I’d also welcome the specific information you requested. I’m guessing the best way to ascertain that information would be following up with MB Mission and C2C directly — or perhaps an individual on the merger task force.

Thank you for your comments and for taking the time to highlight specific areas where you would like more information. We will pass these comments on to the executive board. If you would like, you can also email them directly at mbboard@mbchurches.ca
Here are some other suggestions that might be helpful:

1. The name C2C is inadequate to describe what should be church related church plants, a mission of churches not a free standing organization.
2. Three plants in Squamish illustrate the inadequate conception and execution of C2C.
3. Two plants in Dunbar UBC also were ill advised. To add insult, PGIMF was not even advised and after more than 6 months we found out about them. Urban Journey was simply abandoned later.